Souvenaid Memory Drink

New survey reveals Australians remain largely unaware of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI)

A new consumer survey¹ commissioned by Nutricia reveals almost half (45.8 per cent) of Australian adults are not aware of the symptoms of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) which can be an early stage of Alzheimer's disease, between the expected cognitive decline of normal ageing and the more serious decline of dementia.

These results demonstrate a minor increase of less than one percent in symptom awareness compared to the previous year (45.1 per cent)², highlighting the need to enhance the education of Australians about the signs of MCI and early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

Forgetfulness can be commonly mistaken as a normal part of ageing, and although some forgetfulness comes with age, it's important to identify when there is noticeable decline in memory and other cognitive thinking abilities. People diagnosed with MCI tend to have more noticeable changes to memory and thinking than what would be expected from someone at a similar age.  However, they don't have other signs of dementia and most people are still able to carry out their daily activities.³

KEY SURVEY FINDINGS:¹

• Low awareness: Almost half (45.8 per cent) of Australians are not aware of MCI and associated symptoms
• Geographical divide: Victoria stands out as the state with the lowest awareness of MCI, with South Australia having the highest awareness rate of MCI
• Symptom recognition: 40.6 per cent of those surveyed correctly identified taking longer to recall names and words as a symptom of MCI, with 31.5 per cent also identifying finding decision-making more overwhelming as a symptom. Concerningly, there was very low awareness of the other common symptoms of MCI including struggling to follow conversations or directions (30.2 per cent), finding it harder to complete everyday tasks (30.4 per cent), and finding it harder to follow movies, TV shows or books (26.4%).

Globally recognised specialist in geriatric medicine and Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine, Associate Professor Michael Woodward AM estimates that there are nearly 1 million Australians living with Mild Cognitive Impairment.⁴ This number coupled with the recent survey results reinforce the need to increase awareness of MCI.

Resources and support are available from organisations and networks such as Dementia Australia. Furthermore, Nutricia Australia's Souvenaid has also just launched letschatmci.com.au as part of their 'The Uncomfortable Pause' campaign to increase awareness of MCI and to support more Australians to have a conversation with loved ones about memory loss.

For those diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment, there are lifestyle recommendations such as being more active, being socially connected to family and friends and following Mediterranean like diet. Nutrition plays such a pivotal role in our general well-being as well as supporting a health brain.

Souvenaid® is a medical nutrition drink backed by 20 years of evidence-based research. It contains a unique combination of nutrients formulated to support the growth of brain connections at levels that are difficult to attain through diet alone.

A clinical trial published in the peer-reviewed publication Alzheimer's & Dementia®: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association in 2021, compared people with MCI who took a nutritional intervention called Souvenaid compared to those that didn't, showed for the first time that a nutritional intervention has been clinically proven to slow the decline in memory and cognition when taken daily over 3 years.⁵

More details about Souvenaid can be found at www.memorydrink.com.au.

This product does not cure or alleviate Alzheimer's disease.

Souvenaid is a food for special medical purposes for use under medical supervision. Contact your healthcare professional to see if this product is suitable for you or your loved ones.

This is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice, always seek professional advice from a healthcare professional.

Danone is a leading global food and beverage company operating in three healthfocused, fast-growing and on-trend categories: Essential Dairy & Plant-Based products, Waters and Specialized Nutrition. With a long-standing mission of bringing health through food to as many people as possible, Danone aims to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices while committing to achieve measurable nutritional, social, societal and environment impact. Danone has defined its Renew strategy to restore growth, competitiveness, and value creation for the long-term. With 100,000 employees, and products sold in over 120 markets, Danone generated €27.7 billion in sales in 2022. Danone's portfolio includes leading international brands (Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil, Danette, Danio, Danonino, evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Volvic, among others) as well as strong local and regional brands (including Aqua, Blédina, Bonafont, Cow & Gate, Mizone, Oikos and Silk). Listed on Euronext Paris and present on the OTCQX market via an ADR (American Depositary Receipt) program, Danone is a component stock of leading sustainability indexes including the ones managed by Moody's and Sustainalytics, as well as the Ethibel Sustainability Index, the MSCI ESG Indexes, the FTSE4Good Index Series, Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, and the Access to Nutrition Index. Danone's ambition is to be B-Corp certified at global level in 2025. 

REFERENCES

1. Decibal Research Weekly Omnibus Survey conducted amongst 1,000 Australians nationally representative by age (18 - 65+), gender and location in September 2023. Data on file.
2. The Digital Edge Weekly Omnibus Survey conducted amongst 1,005 Australians nationally representative by age (40+), gender and location in April 2022. Data on file.
3. Dementia Australia. What is MCI: https://www.dementia.org.au/about-dementia-and-memory- loss/about-dementia/memory-loss/mild-cognitive-impairment
4. Woodward, Michael. Medicine Today 2022; 23(12): 55-59. December 2022
5. Soininen H, Solomon A, Visser PJ, et al. 36-month LipiDiDiet multinutrient clinical trial in prodromal Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's Dement. 2021;17:29–40. . https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.12172